Photo: Bekathwia, Flickr

If you're trying to lose a few pounds, trading your regular soda for the diet version could be doing more harm than good. True, swapping a can of Coke Zero for the regular kind slices 139 calories from your daily intake, but research from the University of Liverpool in England suggests that your body processes artificial, calorie-free sweeteners the same way it does regular sugar.

Just as your taste buds can't differentiate between regular and artificial sweeteners (aside that chemically aftertaste), the receptors in your intestines aren't able to tell the difference either. Once the intestines sense sweetness, they seek out glucose to absorb. So even though that Equal is calorie-free -- your body may still take calories from somewhere else if these receptors are activated.

"Artificial sweeteners can also activate the glucose sensor and increase the capacity of the intestine to absorb more sugar," Soraya Shirazi-Beechey, lead author of the study and a professor of Molecular Physiology and Biochemistry at Liverpool University, tells the Daily Mail. "If someone wants to lose weight, I don't think artificial sweeteners are going to help," she says. "My recommendation is to eat natural foods, but to eat less of them."

It's unclear from Shirazi-Beechey's research whether the amount of glucose absorbed after sensing an artificial sweetener would equal the calorie-equivalent of a regular soda.

I'm an advocate for low-glycemic sweeteners like stevia and agave nectar. These sweeteners, which are natural and don't contain chemicals, are great alternatives to refined sugar and artificial sweeteners. Why don't more people use them, then?

Almost no people I know use anything but table sugar, Sweet and Low and Splenda to sweeten those "boring" drinks. Other sweeteners -- like sorbitol -- can even lead to extreme weight loss over time, according to a new report out this past week.

Weight loss is good when done in a gradual, methodical fashion. Extreme weight loss, though, should make you nervous. It doesn't give the body time to adjust to the changes it's undergoing and can be dangerous. If you're seeing -- or have seen -- extreme weight loss and you consume sweetened foods, drinks (or even gum) regularly, consult with your doctor and try to nail the reason down for your weight swings. It just could be that you're simply taking in too much sorbitol.

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I'm a fan of foods without sugar. But sometimes I worry about items labeled sugar-free that still retain a semi-sweet taste. How can this be? How can something sugar-free taste so, well, sugary?

It all comes down to two words: Artificial and sweeteners. Like aspartame, the sweetener no one is really too sure about.

According to an article in the Fall/Winter 2007 issue of Beyond, a magazine all about breast cancer, long-term studies of low doses of aspartame given to rats beginning in the womb indicated a cancer connection. A different study of humans, published in the January 2007 Annals of Oncology, contradicts this conclusion, though, revealing there is no link between the use of artificial sweeteners and cancer. Data is just not strong enough to say anything about human risk.

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In the latest salvo over whether the sweetener chemical aspartame is safe or not, a recent review apparently looked at over 500 studies over a span of 25 years. Result: no evidence surfaced that linked aspartame to anything negative in the human body insofar as safety is concerned.

Of course, this latest report was funded by the artificial sweetener industry, and only studies with a verified neutral bias stack up in my book, Without knowing which specific 500 studies were looked at either, I'm not inclined to even believe this report.

But, it's impressive (I suppose) to see American, British and Dutch experts rejecting the possibility that aspartame is dangerous in any way. At least the panel concluded that some people may get headaches after consuming it. Neat.

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If you're into diet-this and diet-that so you can eat and drink while not ingesting as many calories, some new research may be of interest to you regarding what happens to your sense of energy intake.

In Canada, researchers discovered in a study of rats that the ability to assess the amount of energy (calories) were being eaten was thrown into disarray when the diet of these rodents primarily consisted of diet foods and drinks.

What happened apparently was that, over time, these rats somehow learned that sweet foods (sweetened with non-sugar diet products) did not contain that many calories. When exposed to full-calorie sweetened foods later on, these same rats overate since their systems did not know the difference.

Although humans and rats are far separated in cognitive ability, what do you think about this study? Why do we eat so many "diet" products instead of just consuming less "normal" products?

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Aspartame and cancer are constantly linked in the media. Aspartame is such a widely used artificial sweetener that naturally it's been under scrutiny for quite a long time. I've personally known many friends who suffered from headaches and small seizures after consuming even a single diet soda.

Although I've not had this happen to me, the research I've performed on the chemical makes me look for it on all foods and drinks I consume. The battle lines between those who think aspartame is harmless and those that believe it directly contributes to cancer development are heavily scored in the world, but where do you sit?

The issue of safety was delved into over at The Diet Channel, and although the overall conclusion was that this substance was relatively safe (for the majority, this is true), I'm still no fan of it. How about you?

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Will the debate over aspartame ever end? Though the FDA seems to firm in their decision not to label the artificial sweetener as dangerous, a consumer group is urging the FDA to rethink their stance based on studies done in Italy that linked aspartame to leukemia, lymphoma, and breast cancer in rats. The study allowed the rats, 4,000 of them, to live out their natural lives and found that the rats, when exposed to aspartame over their life time, were much more likely to develop certain cancers. Other tests on aspartame only lasted two years, after which the rats were killed.

The FDA says it won't be changing its stance any time soon, but the Center for Science in the Public Interest -- a consumer group -- says that because aspartame is easy to avoid, consumers should steer clear. What do you think?

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Moderation, moderation, moderation. Almost anything -- even the most seemingly innocuous habits -- can be disastrous when taken to excess.

Abigail Cormack almost learned that the hard way. She started having severe muscle cramps, tingling in her hands and feet, heart palpitations, anxiety attacks, depression, skin rashes and insomnia. It was so bad that she had to take time off work -- and, at one point, feared she was having a heart attack.

Despite the best attempts by doctors to diagnose the problem, Cormack continued to suffer until she discovered an website that suggested her problems might be the result of aspartame poisoning. Aspartame, she discovered, is used in 5000 foods and beverages -- including chewing gum.

Cormack had been chewing up to four packs of chewing gum every day for years, so she stopped the habit, and within 24 hours, her symptoms disappeared.

While no study has formally linked the compounds found in aspartame to any serious side effects (even in large daily doses), some people are more susceptible to allergic reactions, and -- theoretically -- could experience the same symptoms.

That said, even Cormack admits her habit was "excessive."

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Do you regularly drink beverages with fake sweeteners in them? Aspartame, Equal, NutraSweet, Splenda -- there are plenty of scientific and branding names all these fake sweeteners go by.

Splenda, which is an artificial sweeteners that "is made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar," has high hopes for becoming the #1 artificial sweetener in France according to its maker, McNeil Nutritionals LLC. While I don't dispute that Splenda is "made form sugar," it's still not a natural substance. Do research on sucralose and you'll find this out pretty fast.

Although I can't stand to taste of fake sweeteners in anything, plenty of people can and do based on the lower calorie count that can be given not using real sugar. Are chemically-created sweeteners the answer, though? It's probably the less of two evils. Splenda' goal of market leadership in France by 2009 is pretty lofty so we'll see if the French citizenry fall for it hook, line and sinker like many of us have here in America.

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Like Sweet-and-Low or Equal? While fake sweeteners are superior to sugar in terms of calories, they're not natural products. Your body was never designed for synthetics like this, yet we continue to consume all these fake sweeteners because of "low calorie" sates pitches. Why?

Sucralose was the result of a product that needed to be made so that "made with real sugar" could be the marketing pitch. But, make no mistake -- this is *not* a natural product. I've tasted it briefly and while the taste was very sugary, I could easily tell a difference. can you? Equal and saccharin make me gag, though -- nothing about those products tastes good to me.

Although stevia still has not been approved as a food ingredient, my research indicates that it's the best, natural sweetener there is. And, it is sooooo good.

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You have to love when goofy lawsuits are brought on inside the realm of possible "customer confusion" when it comes to the food marketplace. McNeil Nutritionals, LLC (part of Johnson & Johnson) wants Heartland Sweeteners to stop using a "yellow" package for its sucralose product.

Since Splenda comes in a yellow package (or package), I guess yellow is off-limits as a color used for low-calories and fake sweeteners. Although sucralose is derived in a natural way, I still don't consider it a real sweetener. Stevia and agave nectar? You bet.

Oh well, this was another great waste of time and effort by McNeil to stop "customer confusion" over its Splenda product. Yay (yawn).

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Well that didn't take long. As Brian reported just a couple days ago, the FDA recently declared that there was no evidence aspartame causes cancer.

But in a seemingly almost instant rebuttal, Italian researchers released the results of a new study that found an increase in cancer risk in rats who were given aspartame. When a dose equivalent to 40% of a safe dose for humans (adjusted for the rats' smaller body size), the animals showed a slightly increased risk of cancer, but when given twice that amount, their risk went up. The study hasn't been published yet, so experts haven't had a chance to analyze it, but the FDA refuted the same researchers last year.

So what's a consumer to do? Aspartame is in about 6,000 different products and is hard to avoid if you tend to purchase lots of sugar-free goods. Whether you choose to enjoy the artificial sweetener or not is a personal choice, one that certainly isn't easily made.

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As I look at food packages these days, it's amazing to see the large amount of fake sweeteners along with loads of refined sugar in so many foods. After all, everyone has a partial (or whole) "sweet tooth", and manufacturers sell ore products when they make them taste good.

The only downside is that tasting good comes at a price. Generally, refined sugars are really bad for human health (my 2 cents, anyway), and have a load of calories. The solution has been to use artificial sweeteners as a replacement, which then have unnatural chemicals which I consider to be almost as bad (or worse) than refined sugar.

Where is the "sweet" answer then? How about low-calorie, low-glycemic sweeteners like agave nectar and stevia? The food manufacturers probably don't want to use these items due to cost (which can be high) and due to these alternatives being natural products (that can't be protected by patents and such). One thing is for sure -- stevia is a great and sweet alternative that's been used globally for centuries and it beats the pants off table sugar and bleached refined sugar. Try it if you can -- and you decide.

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Does the artificial sweetener known as aspartame cause cancer? For quite a while, this was thought to be the case. But now, the FDA is claiming that it has not seen any data to support earlier studies that claim aspartame has a hand in causing cancer.

With the belief in the FDA's ability to understand and even interpret certain things these days, I'm taking this story with a grain of salt at the moment. The ability of the FDA to go back and forth on so many issues these days instantly raises the suspicious flag I think. But, all sides need to be considered.

The FDA's statement that "Our conclusion, based on a comprehensive review of all data we had, is there is no evidence that aspartame is a carcinogen or any evidence to change our previous conclusion: that aspartame, the way it is used, is safe" still won't make me drink diet soft drinks or anything with aspartame. How about you?

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Are you a fan of diet soda? Many folks I know switched to diet versions of their favorite soft drinks years ago to get away from the sugar and calories of normal soft drinks. While diet sodas can be looked at as healthier than normal soft drinks, I still avoid them like the plague. Why? Chemicals and other non-nutritional items.

Have you looked at the sodium content of some diet soft drinks? How about aspartame content (a fake but dangerous sweetener)?

Always do what you feel is right, but in the case of diet soft drinks, the additives, fake colors, chemicals and other things sound like bad news to me. Do they to you?

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